Chicago | Reuters—Chicago grain futures turned higher on Tuesday, as investors adjusted positions while they waited to see if U.S. President Donald Trump would follow through on threats to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico this weekend, analysts said.
Soybean futures traded both sides of unchanged during the session on the tariff uncertainty, and pressure from improving South American weather, according to analysts.
The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 settled unchanged at $10.45 a bushel, while wheat Wv1 climbed 9-3/4 cents to end at $5.45-1/4.
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CBOT most active corn contract Cv1 settled up 3-1/4 cents at $4.85-1/4 a bushel.
The possibility that Trump could follow through on threats of large tariffs on major U.S. trading partners, which would take effect on Feb. 1, unnerved many market participants, said Jim McCormick, founding partner at AgMarket.net.
Analysts have warned that placing tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. from certain countries could lead to retaliation and trade wars.
Soybeans also received pressure from long-term forecasts showing rains in Argentina, a leading producer, said McCormick.
Rainfall is expected to expand in parched Argentina in the next 11-15 days, according to Commodity Weather Group, and conditions for fieldwork in Brazil, which have slowed in recent days, are expected to improve after rains from Tuesday to Thursday.
A massive Brazilian soybean crop is still anticipated, despite weather issues that have hit the top exporter of the oilseed.
Wheat rose on a technical bounce, said McCormick, receiving additional support from fears that cold weather in the U.S. Plains may have caused damage to its crop.
Corn futures followed wheat into the upswing, he said, with the grain also benefiting from a large net long position held by the funds.
Funds were responding to a relatively tight global supply of corn, said McCormick, and are likely putting more money into agricultural commodities as a hedge against rising inflation, a possible effect of Trump’s proposed trade policies.
—Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra
